AT&T buying DirecTV in deal worth $67.1 billion

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) - AT&amp;T
T, -0.17%
said Sunday it will buy satellite-television provider DirecTV
DTV, +1.88%
in a stock-and-cash deal worth $67.1 billion. Under the deal, approved by both firms' boards, DirecTV shareholders will receive $28.50 per share in cash, along with $66.50 per share in AT&amp;T stock, with provisions adjusting the stock portion of the offer based on further movements in AT&amp;T shares. The total value "implies an adjusted enterprise value multiple of 7.7 times DIRECTV's 2014 estimated EBITDA," AT&amp;T said in announcing the deal. AT&amp;T said it would finance the deal "through a combination of cash on hand, sale of non-core assets, committed financing facilities and opportunistic debt market transactions." It also said it would sell off its interest in América Móvil in order to ease regulatory approval of the deal. It also said the new entity would be committed to "for three years after closing" to upholding current net neutrality rules as established in 2010, "irrespective of whether the FCC re-establishes such protections for other industry participants following the DC Circuit Court of Appeals vacating those rules." The U.S. telecom said the deal would likely close within "approximately 12 months," and would be accretive to AT&amp;T's earnings within 12 months after the close, adding that its 2014 outlook "remains largely unchanged" though the sale of the América Móvil holdings would cut about 5 cents per share from earnings. In touting the worth of the deal, AT&amp;T said: "The transaction enables the combined company to offer consumers bundles that include video, high-speed broadband and mobile services using all of its sales channels -- AT&amp;T's 2,300 retail stores and thousands of authorized dealers and agents of both companies nationwide."

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